Maelstrom
17th February 2022
(Above) ‘Rest & Be Thankful’ before entering the maelstrom in upper Coire Ardair? A brief moment in the sun this morning. And it was very brief!
(Above) Lochan a Choire with Bellevue Buttress and Pinnacle Buttress prominent. A boiling cauldron of spindrift throughout the day with plenty of angry, powerful downdrafts, and sudden squalls that spun across the lochan with little or no warning.
(Above) Tricky getting a shot with any definition/contrast of Easy Gully and the Post Face due to the clouds of spindrift.
(Above) No time (or inclination) for a picnic here. Surely some potential for a burger van to complement the permanent tourist infrastructure that’s sprung up? Wouldn’t have done a roaring trade today though.Â
(Above) The easternmost face of Sron a Ghoire, the one that overlooks the car park. If you look at the avalanche report you’ll see that 750m was a bit of a threshold for stability/instability today. The snow was piling into these and similar places and the Considerable avalanche hazard is expected to become more extensive, down as low as 700m on Friday. Not difficult to see why if you examine the photo. A small cornice line is also becoming established which will almost certainly be more pronounced tomorrow, Friday.
(Above) Profile photo of the easternmost face of Sron a Ghoire taken today. Clear evidence of wind transported snow onto this obvious lee slope. Drifting continued all day in the strong and cold W wind.
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